REPENTANCE OPENS THE DOOR FOR RECEIVING WHAT WE NEED
By Ron Fischer © 2005
Repentance is a necessary step towards receiving everything that we need from God. It is required for salvation, healing, freedom from oppression, being born again and receiving the Holy Spirit, and living a righteous life for Christ. Jesus and his disciples taught everyone to repent (MT 4:17; MK 6:12; LK 13:1-5; AC 2:38) and after healing some people Jesus told them not to sin again. I believe that this was a warning so that the sickness would not return due to sin. Sin can cause sickness and spiritual bondage because it allows the enemy to attack us.
What causes us to repent?
- We make wrong choices and reap bad consequences in our lives. Sometimes the consequence is spiritual bondage causing emotional torment and sometimes it is sickness in our bodies.
- The Holy Spirit convicts our conscience of the wrong that we have done so that we will turn to God to be forgiven and healed.
- The devil also comes along to condemn us with guilt and shame in order to keep us from God by fear that God is against us, and wants to harm us. If guilt and shame became too overwhelming some people will end it all in remorse which does not allow God to forgive and heal them.
What is repentance?
- As the Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin and begins to draw them to God, people respond by seeking God for forgiveness and healing.
- Some of the questions I had in my teen years that led me to repentance and to seek God were:
Does God really care?
Can God help me?
Can I know God?
Can I be forgiven and if so how do I know I've been forgiven?
Can I know for sure that I am going to go to heaven and avoid punishment and hell when I die?
- Repentance involves agreeing with God that we have sinned, knowing that we need God's forgiveness and healing, and seeking God
- Included in repentance is the desire to stop rebelling against God, a desire to stop sinning, and a willingness to follow and trust what God tells us to do in order to be free and healed.
- In order to receive God's forgiveness we need to be willing to forgive those who have sinned against us.
What happens when we repent?
Our heart is able to receive what we need from God and what God so desires to give us, which is:
- Love, forgiveness, cleansing, acceptance, and peace in our hearts (AC 3:19)
- Freedom from condemnation, freedom from deception and lies, and freedom from spiritual bondage
- Emotional and physical healing
- A tender, soft ,and pure heart of love and forgiveness towards others
- Being born again in our spirit and receiving the Holy Spirit as our guide and helper to be with us forever
What should we repent from?
- Putting other things in a higher place than God (idols) (REV 2:4)
- Things that will keep us from inheriting and entering the Kingdom of God. God makes it clear in the New Testament Bible that people who live a lifestyle of sin will have no part in God's kingdom but instead be thrown into a lake of fire where there is torment day and night forever. These lifestyles of sin are: the sexually immoral (sex outside of marriage, or with animals, or sodomy), idolaters (idol worshippers), adulterers, prostitutes, homosexual offenders, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers (those who gossip and judge others), swindlers (the dishonest); impurity (lust and pornography), debauchery (extreme indulgence in sensuality), witchcraft (occult); hatred (unforgiving), discord (always disagreeing), jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions (always quarrelling), factions (self-seeking), envy; orgies, and the like; the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile (disgusting), the murderers (suicide), and all liars; the shameful or deceitful; and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.(Matt 6:14-15; Matt 7:1-2; John 3:16-18,34-36; 1 Cor 6:9-11; Gal 5:19-21; Rev 20:10,14-15; Rev 21:6-8,27; Rev 22:14)
Repentance is not a one time thing we do, it is a lifestyle of continually responding to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and a willingness to follow his leading in order that we may be free and healed so that we can enjoy and live righteous life for Christ.
A lack of repentance when convicted can cause our heart and conscience to become cold and unresponsive. We also come under the attack of the devil losing our peace and joy in life (AC 8:18-24).
Even with a continual repentant heart we may sometimes come under attack from the devil but God's promise is that He will be with us and help us to overcome in our spirit despite what happens.
May we have a continual repentant heart in order that we may receive all that God has for us as we seek his face for our needs and pray for one another's needs.
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